"Now I don't need a furlough," said Mary. "Instead of going home as I had
planned, I shall stay here and enjoy going over ground in my cart that I
couldn't get over otherwise."
A new government road was being built between Ikpe and Ikot Expene. Mary
wanted to start schools and churches all along this road. But she was not
strong enough to carry out her idea. Her heart was very weak now and she
had to rest often. If there had been someone to take her place, she would
have gone home for a rest. Mary wrote to a friend:
We were never so shorthanded, and I
can do what others cannot, what indeed,
doctors would not allow them to try. No
one meddles with me and I slip along and
do my work using less strength than
many would have to use.
Mary knew if she took a furlough her work at Ikpe and the other stations
would stop because there was no one to take her place. This she did not
want to happen. She worked on through the summer of 1912. In September she
completed thirty-six years as a missionary in Africa.
"I'm lame and feeble and foolish," said Mary, "but I grip on well."
Her friends were very much worried about her health. It was suggested that
she be sent on an expense-paid trip to the Canary Islands. There the
climate was milder than it would have been in Scotland during the
winter. She was glad to go. Mary wrote:
What love is wrapped around me! It
is simply wonderful.
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